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"A scathing report from the U.S. Department of Justice criticizes more than just police shootings and killings -- it also revealed Albuquerque police officers have a pattern of unconstitutional use of less-than-lethal force.Experts, however, say the Albuquerque Police Department can turn things around.Less than lethal force includes a lot of measures like stun guns, bean bags, kicking and deploying K-9 officers.VIDEO: APD's non-lethal force use unconstitutional, DOJ saysThe DOJ cited horrific cases of APD using force that was unnecessary and unreasonable in its report. Pages and pages of the DOJ\u2019s report focuses on cases in which officers use such force against those who posed a minimal threat.In one case, several police officers responded to a drunken 60-year-old man with a knife and pellet gun. Police fired bean bags, a flash bang grenade, a police K-9 bit the man and then officers used six cycles of a stun gun\u2019s electricity on him.Officers carried him off unconscious, leaving a trail of blood and urine.In 2009, officers used stun guns multiple times on a man who had doused gasoline on himself and his home. An officer lit the man\u2019s shirt on fire by using the stun gun on him.In other incidents, officers used a stun gun on a man, 75, and a boy, 16. The boy was lying on broken glass, and the officer kneed the teen in the back several times.The DOJ reviewed 200 use-of-force incidents from 2009-2013. Of those, APD concluded less than 1 percent of cases were an unreasonable use of force. The DOJ found about a third of those same cases were unreasonable.Friday, Mayor Richard Berry introduced two consultants who will help APD with reforms: a former Cincinnati police chief and a former American Civil Liberties Union attorney.Those consultants said it\u2019s critical for police to break down each incident step-by-step. The consultants also said they\u2019ll work with APD on tactics like conversation and patience.The DOJ\u2019s reforms call for APD to put more emphasis on de-escalation techniques.\u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.koat.com/article/doj-apd-s-non-lethal-force-use-unconstitutional/5055819>